Many individuals suffer from physiological conditions of the upper extremities, including the arm, wrist and hand. For example, carpal tunnel syndrome, which is triggered by pressure on the median nerve, often results in numbness and difficulty with manual tasks and affects many in the general population. Other common conditions include hand and wrist sprains, strains, tendonitis, and nerve compression.
For many affected individuals, the additional support provided to the arm, wrist and hand by a supportive brace may alleviate the pain and degradation of function that may be associated with these physiological conditions. Supportive braces are also often used by athletes and other individuals to improve performance and prevent damage to the joints, muscles, nerves and tissues of the upper extremities.
Existing braces, however, fail to provide support devices that address the needs and desires of users and care providers. For example, Harris et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,804) describe a carpal tunnel syndrome wrist brace that is secured about a user's wrist by a number of non-elastic laces, threaded through eyelets embedded within a rigid shell and attached to several attachment straps. This brace exhibits a number of disadvantages. First, the use of a rigid shell and non-elastic laces limits the ability of the wrist brace to conform to different user body types and to provide adjustable support for different physiological conditions. Second, the threading of the non-elastic laces through the eyelets is cumbersome because the eyelets are embedded within the shell. Threading laces through embedded eyelets also introduces regions of uneven pressure on the user's skin that may result in irritation and pain.
In another example, Hely (U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,410) describes a brace which is attached to a user's wrist via tightening strands that are anchored in a holder and threaded through openings within the holder. This brace suffers from several of the same disadvantages described above, including impaired adjustability due to the anchored tightening strands, the embedded openings and the uneven pressure caused by the threading of the strands through the openings. Additionally, neither of these braces provides an inner layer that is conformable to a user's skin, nor is dimensioned to provide advantageous supportive forces along a length of a user's arm.